November 1928
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
648
There is a vast knowledge of the truth with humility. Have you got it ? Have you seen it ? The signboard to each of these hills of higher growth reads—Gal. 2 :20. The Gateway of Truth ‘‘I f any man will do my Will, he shall know” (Jn. 7 :17). T HERE are skeptics learned and unlearned, but they. are all accounted for on the same basis, little as many of them may realize it. They are not, wdUrtg to' put God’s Word to the test. ■ o' Own earn Knowledge is the daughter of the will. We are often told that scientific statements are facts that everyone can know for himself, whereas the truths of Christianity must be taken on another’s word. The very opposite is true ! Scientific statements must be taken by the multi tudes purely upon faith in the word of a few scientists, for the ordinary man has no opportunity to verify them. Scientists cannot agree among themselves,. and the lay man must decide whose word he will accept. The fact of regeneration, the Spirit’s indwelling, His witness with our spirits and fellowship with God, any man can expe rience for himself by meeting Christ’s terms. The Lord leads to spiritual knowledge all willing hear ers who do not love darkness more than light. The will ingness to practice what we know tells upon the capacity to know. An honest heart has more to do with the :dis covery of the trUtli than a brilliant intellect. The gateway of truth is closed to the man who refuses to submit his will to God. For this very reason "the wise and prudent’’ often miss it while "babes and sucklingsf’ rejoice in the Lord. No mere daring of intellect can pierce the heavens. Truth, at the heart, is always ethical. Performance of the simplest known duty always has an illuminating power. “The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet,” says George H. Morrison, “and only when our feet go forward bravely will the circle of light advance upon the dark and reveal what is always shadowed to the stationary.” Sir Henry Jones in his book, “A Faith That En quires,” suggests that the church try teaching Christian theology not as, something settled but as the most reason able hypothesis to begin with. It would then be tried and tested theoretically and practically and w o u l d become more convincing. We need not fear this proposition. It is very similar to that made by Christ Himself. Creed is not simply the record of an old belief to be taken on authority. It is a challenge and its validity stands on its merits. Put Christ’s Word to the proof and you "shall know whether it be of God” or whether He spake as a man. Come to. Him, not with your stereotyped ideas to confirm, but with the tablet of your heart unmarked and ready to r e c e i v e impressions from the Holy Spirit. We dare to say that you will find "the peace of God that passeth all under- standing”É-it matters not who or what you are. The Treasure Chest I N Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman broke a box of precious ointment and poured it upon the Saviour’s head (Mk. 14:1-7). There was an imme diate objection on the part of the disciples, Judas having made the motion (Jn. 12:4-5). Judas was the treasurer and probably felt that expenditures should go through in regular form and be handled by himself (Jn. 13:29). But Judas did so much calculating he lost his own soul. The
Wherever we turn, the appeal is being made to the lust of the eyes. We must have our bathing beauty parades. What for? The Chamber of Commerce finds it draws a crowd for business. The newspapers must have a daily display of bare legs. What for ? To sell papers. A hosiery concern must have its annual contest to discover the ideal ankle. What for? To sell stockings! An oil company must choose its “Queen Petrolia.” A health magazine must choose its “Queen of Physical Culture.” The chiro-, praetors meet to select “the most beautiful back and the daily press is filled with almost perfect spines for several days. No perfect specimens are found among men. Cleopatra would have made a fortune in our day! Let us not forget that the lust of the eyes is not of the Father, but of the world. "The world, posseth away and the lust thereof.’’ The. Christian will need often to pray David’s prayer: "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way’’ (Psa. 119:37). •- Wfc. Are You There? T HERE is a fundamentalism, true and unswerving. that fights the Goliath of modernism more than it fights; the fellow who takes his sling and will not wear our armor. Have you got it? There is a loyalty to Jesus Christ as God’s only begot ten Son,,bbjrn of the Virgin Mary, very God of very Gods, eternally one with the Father, which is shared by more than “me and my wife, my son John and his wife; we four and no more.” Do you have it ? ^ There is a platform', the eternal, God-breathed, Spirit- given and Spirit-filled W ord ; the only infallible rule of faith and practice ,1 wide enough for two who do not speak the same petty shibboleth. Are you there? Alone?. , There is a spirituality that is so real and true that it can see a brother overtaken in a fault and desire only to restore him in a spirit of meekness. Do you know it? There is a place so near to God that any flaw in a feL low-member of the body of Christ gives us more pain because of his loss than because he does not fit us and our flaws. Are you there? There is. a binding-together in the hundle of life that makes it hurt if any member suffers. Are you in that bundle? It is possible to love Christian brethren and not be Modernists. Do you? There is a likeness to the Master, entered into through riches of grace by way of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which a man loves the lost so much that he is glad to see sinners saved through the efforts of others than himself. Have you attained? Are you sure? THERE I S EVANGEL IST IC POWER W ITH OUT EGOTISM. Have you got it? There is a love for doctrine, dispensations, definitions and details that is still far from pharisaism. Has it reached you? There is a deep devotion to all true divisions, dispen sations and defenses of the Word without robbing believ ers of any precept or portion. Have you got it?
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